Was It Fire or Lightning?
by tulip meadow
Summary: Sequel to A Gloomy Library. When Daphne comes up with a new battle plan, the Scarlet Hand attacks the fort again! Mirror hides inside the fort and commits his worst crime ever... The Grimms must solve it - and bring a family's member back to life.
1. Daphne's plan

**This is the sequel to "A Gloomy Library" I promised! It's more like a detective story, and sometimes it will get real scary. Nevertheless, I hope my readers will like it! So, there's the first chapter.**

**Chapter 1. Daphne's plan (a little flashback)**

**6.30 in the morning**

Sabrina's POV

I came to the watchtower, still blushing and remembering the Editor's declaration of love to me. Luckily, Daphne was too excited to notice it. She had come up with a new plan of defeating Mirror and Atticus.

"Well?" I asked. "What's your plan, Daphne?"

She smiled proudly and started explaining:

"Sabrina, you understand that we need to kill Mirror without hurting Granny Relda. It can be possible only if the Wicked Queen puts Mirror into another vessel, and we destroy this vessel. Last night I thought of that and then realized: in that case, why can't Bunny Lancaster put Mirror inside Atticus? We'll kill Atticus and get rid of both of them! Isn't that amazing?"

"Yes, it is – in theory," I hesitated. "But practically we are going to face lots of problems".

"Wait a minute!" Daphne cried. "I have thought about all that! My plan is going to work like a perfect machine, if you let me explain it and we do everything properly. Now listen, Sabrina, please!

"Our problem number one is Mirror's distraction. If he's distracted, Bunny can come closely to him and take him away from Granny's body. But how can we distract him? That's the question. My answer is simple. We find him and let someone very powerful, like Baba Yaga and the Blue Fairy combined, attack him, launch spells, do something like that. Mirror's going to focus on the self-defense, thus allowing Bunny to set Granny free of him. Great, huh? I doubt Mirror can harm the distraction group seriously. He's not this powerful".

Daphne looked at me triumphantly.

"This idea's great indeed," I laughed. "But don't forget that we need to have Mirror's vessel nearby. How can we urge Atticus to be possessed by Mirror?"

"This is the problem number two," Daphne replied. "Someone has to lead Atticus to the place where everything's going to happen. Someone fast, and shifty, and cunning comes to Atticus, and begins to whet his anger. Atticus chases him and comes to the place where Mirror is fighting with our distraction group… wherever that is. The vessel's ready – hooray! Bunny puts Mirror into Atticus, and then everyone kills him… them, I mean. Mirror's going to be shocked by the transition, so he'll stand still for several seconds. During these seconds, we defeat him. The end!"

I was stunned. Daphne had become wonderfully wise! I praised her and we discussed the details of the plan. We decided that the Revisers would bring Atticus to us, because they're the fastest and shiftiest creatures ever born. And then Mirror&Atticus would be attacked by our whole army. The plan seemed excellent. Daphne and I wrote it down, and read it aloud to each other like two crazies, and brought our family to the watchtower to tell them about it.

Then all of us delivered the plan to Charming, Canis, and Mr. Seven. They were delighted and told us they would discuss it when they returned. They were in fact coming out of the fort to attack the Hand already. We said my goodbyes to them and wished them luck. Then we went back to the watchtower, where the Everafters who didn't fight were still celebrating the creation of the wonderful plan.

We joined them. I was able to do several things at the time: I was cheering and also checking if our water cannon worked properly.

In the middle of this odd celebration, I heard a painful cry from the fort's garden. Daphne and I shared a worried look, and I suddenly noticed that the Editor and Puck weren't on the watchtower with everybody else.

We both rushed to the garden. As we approached it, we stood in shock. The scene we saw was terrible.

The Editor and Puck were fighting with swords they may have found in the armory. They both were already injured: the Editor's left arm was bleeding violently; Puck had several minor wounds, plus his face twisted with pain every time he treaded on his right foot. Exactly the moment we came, he did tread on his right foot and collapsed to the ground with a kind of short sob.

"Goodness!" I cried. "Were you _really _fighting?"

It sounded silly, it was obvious that they weren't playing games.

Both had turned to us. Puck sat on the ground, still groaning. It was also obvious that the two of them needed medical attention urgently. I told Daphne to call Nurse Sprat as quickly as possible. Then I turned back to the fighters:

"That was foolish of you both!" I scolded them. "We all need to defeat the Scarlet Hand, not to fight each other. Who started it?"

The Editor and Puck both blushed, then Puck said:

"Er… well, ugly, I did. I challenged the Editor to a duel… for you. I almost… um… defeated him, but in the middle of the fight I twisted my ankle, and he almost… defeated me. The moment you came… yeah, I was close to losing the battle".

I could feel my face reddening. They fought for _me_! I was sure such duels were forgotten in the end of the 19th century. In any case, duels are stupid. I said:

"I'm flattered that this was for me. But I don't want any duel to happen again. Now, please, promise me it won't happen again".

The Editor and Puck swore in unison that they would be peaceful and friendly since this very moment. After listening to them, I looked around to see Daphne and Nurse Sprat running to us. Nurse was horrified to see the wounds of our duelists, so she started treating them without even asking anything. While she was doing this, I told Puck and the Editor about our new plan. They were aching to see it!

When Nurse applied the bandages to the injuries, Daphne and I accompanied the two unfortunate duelists to the watchtower.

We explained the plan once more.

"Great!" Puck exclaimed. "I can't wait to destroy Atticus and Mirror with one strike!"

"They are going to pay for the mess they caused inside my Book," the Editor added. "Let's start preparing for this Final Battle right now!"

**This chapter wasn't very exciting, sorry… The next one will be better **_**and **_**scarier, that's certain! I'll update tomorrow. Or maybe even today. :)**

**Thanks to the reviewers!**


	2. Dead

**Here's the new chapter. I hope it's better than the first one!**

**Chapter 2. Dead**

The Editor's POV

Daphne's plan was excellent! I was anxious to start preparing for the final battle of the war. I told the sisters Grimm and Puck about it. Daphne and Puck grinned, but Sabrina seemed worried with something. She was looking at the forests that surrounded the fort.

"What's it? Sabrina?" Daphne asked. "What do you see?"

"Far in the sky," she said. "Something… flying to the fort. Maybe it's just a flock of birds, but I'm worried. Daphne, take a look!"

Daphne is farsighted, so she could watch the strange flying something much better than anyone else of us. She examined the sky and suddenly let out a shriek:

"It seems like the Scarlet Hand has sent dragons again!"

She looked like she might have a heart attack. But Sabrina wasn't so weak. She rang the alarm bell that hang nearby and cried:

"Dragons are getting to the fort! Everyone, go underground, somewhere into the cellars! Quickly!"

The terrible creatures were flying closer, so that even I could see them properly. Sabrina stopped ringing the bell and spoke to us:

"The dragons can breathe fire, that's the worst thing about them. Daphne, hurry to the water cannon, it works perfectly, you can handle it alone. Puck and Editor, I could use your help with stopping the panic and throwing rocks at the dragons".

The four of us ran down. Panicked people were running to hide in the cabins and tents, but Sabrina shouted at them:

"Have you lost all of your senses? Cabins are wooden, and tents are made of canvas! A dragon can burn them down with one light breath! GO TO THE CELLARS!"

The Grimms understood immediately, but the rest of the fort's inhabitants were still running forwards and backwards, drawing the approaching dragons' attention at themselves. Puck and I started gathering them and leading them to the cellars. The cellars couldn't be noticed from the sky and burnt down. It was very safe inside them.

Sabrina was checking the cabins and tents: somebody could have stayed there, being too frightened to move. Really, Sabrina was very brave: she could have been burnt down at any moments. The dragons were circling the fort. Daphne seemed to slow them down by shooting streams of water from the water cannons. She even managed to kill a crimson dragon by hitting its mouth with water. But she narrowly avoided their breaths herself…

I was just going to come out of the cellar and call for Sabrina; Puck was already preparing to shoot rocks from the catapult.

Suddenly, I spotted Sabrina running away from the mess tent with her brother in her arms. Little Basil had crawled under the table and nobody noticed him! The rescue couldn't have been too late: a moment after Sabrina and Basil had exited the tent, a brownish dragon set it on fire.

I was temporarily blinded by the light of the fire. When I opened my eyes, the dragons were deserting. One of them was shot by a blue ray that came from outside the fort; and the monster turned into a tiny bluebird. Our army was back, and the Blue Fairy and other witches and warlocks came to our defense! We rushed to the gates and greeted the troops.

"The Blue Fairy created several grenades, and we threw it at the palace of Mayor Heart!" Charming said. "Mayor Heart is severely wounded. Nottingham's killed, as well as two hundred of card soldiers! Another triumph!"

"Billy, don't be so cheerful," Snow said. "You can see that we lost our mess tent and… Have anybody been hurt by the dragons?"

The old Everafters and the Everafter kids started to leave the cellars. Mr. Seven counted them: everybody seemed to be alive…

And that's when I noticed the absence of Basil and dear Sabrina. I called for Puck and the rest of the Grimms, we ran to the place where the mess tent had once stood. Now it was a heap of black ash… I tried to convince myself there was _nobody _lying in it…

Sabrina's silent body was half-buried in the ash. Basil, who was scared but perfectly healthy, was sitting near her and trying to wake her up. She had a horrible burn on her once enchanting face, and her delicate hands now looked even more terrifying. Basil was whimpering:

"Wake up, Sabiwa, pwe-ase!"

My eyes welled with tears. Daphne and Veronica were in hysterics. Henry was desperately cursing the Scarlet Hand. Jake was sobbing uncontrollably. Puck and I knelt down and burst into tears. I couldn't still believe my only beloved was dead! I felt like I could give my own life to bring her back.

**Don't like the ending? Read the next chapter, shorter but more joyful!**


	3. Revived

**Chapter 3. Revived**

Puck's POV

I was crying hysterically near her corpse. I couldn't imagine my life without her. I loved her, there was no need to hide it anymore. It seemed that a part of my heart died with Sabrina Grimm. I leaned over to kiss her for the last time, and I heard a voice:

"I think I know how to revive Sabrina!"

It was the Editor. His face was also wet with tears, but his eyes lit with hope. Everybody turned to him. He called his Revisers and ordered them:

"Bring the lamp here".

One of the Revisers ran into the Editor's cabin and returned with a large lamp… Aladdin's lamp!

"I have one wish left," the Editor said, smiling through tears. He polished the lamp with his sleeve. The genie came out with the usual thunder and wind and roared:

"My master, I can grant the third wish of yours, whatever it is!"

"Can you bring a dead person back to life?" the Editor asked hopefully and pointed to Sabrina.

"Oh, she has been dead for ten minutes… And died of burns… Yes, I can revive her!"

I watched Sabrina's terrible burns to fade away. Moments later, she opened her eyes and breathed deep. The Editor and I helped her to stand up.

"Is everybody safe? Are the dragons gone?" she asked, then noticed that everybody had been crying. "What's the matter?"

"You were killed by fire", I explained. "Luckily, the Editor called the genie and the genie revived you".

She was startled:

"Oh, indeed? Editor, I can't express my thankfulness to you and the genie! The usual "thank you so much" cannot be said to the persons who brought me back to life!"

…It was happiness in the fort again. Nurse Sprat treated the minor wounds of the troops. All of the Grimms, and, of course, the Editor and me, were standing near Sabrina. I felt I wouldn't bear her even getting a scratch, let alone being seriously wounded once more.

**Everything has just started! In the next chapter, the Grimms will start solving the mystery of Sabrina's murder…**


	4. Murder?

**Are you disappointed with the previous chapters? Well, here comes a new one – along with a new trouble.**

**Chapter 4. Murder?..**

Daphne's POV

We were celebrating: 1) a new victory of Charming's army 2) Sabrina's revival 3) the invention of a new plan of defeating Atticus and the scarlethanders. The idea of the plan was mine, by the way!

Sabrina was obviously feeling better than fine. She looked so lively that Puck even played a _tiiiiny _prank on her: he put mustard on her sandwich instead of processed cheese. Fortunately, Sabrina noticed the change before taking a bite from it. She wasn't angry, she just grinned and said:

"Well, fairy boy, if we get married, I'll feed you with such sandwiches every day!"

As for me, personally, I could eat a hundred pounds of mustard without complaints – the quality of food doesn't matter for me now that Sabrina is alive and well again. I'm sure Puck thought the same way, because he didn't insult her in return – he winked at her and smiled slyly.

But Sabrina wasn't paying attention to him. Suddenly she scowled, turned to me and said:

"Daphne, I… I've just... I've just remembered the last moments before the death. I remember running away from the burning mess tent. Then something awfully hot hitting me in the face and then in the chest. I hear a voice saying 'Sorry to kill you'…"

"WHAT?" I cried. "Do you mean you didn't die in the fire? You mean you were… murdered!"

"I'm afraid I do. Let me finish. Then someone from Charming's army… maybe the Blue Fairy… unleashes a stream of water on the mess tent, I can hear it… Then I'm carried to the ash and put there, the voice says 'Everybody will think you died in the fire. Farewell'. And then – the pain and nothingness…"

Impossible! Sabrina was killed by a _person_, not by _dragon's breath_! I called for everyone's attention and told Sabrina to repeat the story. So she did, and it was a shock to the troops and to our family. I heard people murmuring something about "hallucinations" and "fake memories" and stuff like that, but Dad raised his hand and there was silence.

"Don't you understand what it means?" he shouted. "It means that a member of the Scarlet Hand murdered my daughter and is certainly still hiding inside the fort. Charming, have you spotted anybody leaving the fort since the army returned?"

"N-no, the protective spells indicate that everybody's here," Charming said, startled and confused. But he controlled himself in a moment and continued Dad's speech:

"Henry Grimm is right. The murderer of Sabrina Grimm is among us or is hiding somewhere nearby! That means that everyone else is in danger – who knows who the next victim will be!"

That caused even more panic and shock in the crowd. Some people were in hysterics, some were desperately crying for help. Sabrina and I trembled.

"I'm so scared…" Sabrina whispered. "Oh, Daphne, what if this person kills me again?.."

"That – won't – happen – again – to – _you_!" Puck and the Editor said in unison. I knew they meant it. Sabrina's admirers were going to guard her with their lives. It was clear, and I was glad that at least my sister is relatively safe.

"We are Grimms, and _that's_ what we do!" Dad said. He was referring to our family motto maybe for the first time in years. "We'll find that 'scarlethander'! I promise you that. The rest of my family is certainly anxious to investigate this case as well, because we almost lost one of our dearest relatives – my daughter. Nobody wants this to happen again. We are detectives, and we are going to start searching for the enemy right now, _right_?" He turned to the rest of the family.

"RIGHT! NOW!" all of us (including Puck's pixies and the Editor) shouted. The army applauded. Just as Dad had suggested, we came to the main tent to brainstorm about the investigation of this crime. The rest of the army started reconstructing the mess tent and repairing other damages that dragons left.

I was excited. We are using our detective skills again!

"So," Mom asked Sabrina. "Don't you remember anything about the murderer? Would you recognize him or his voice?"

"I… I don't think so," Sabrina answered after a long thought. "Well, you see – I was concentrated on little Basil's rescue… and I was shocked. I couldn't even remember the last moments before the murder until now. I'm sorry, but I can't help the case".

"Of course we understand you," Uncle Jake spoke. "Let's discuss another point. How did that enemy who's now hiding somewhere kill Sabrina? Sabrina, you mentioned that something hot hit your face and chest…"

"That's what I felt", Sabrina nodded. "I was still trying to run… and then the paralyzing pain – I wasn't able to move".

"Yes, I see," Uncle Jake interrupted. "Don't try to remember all that anymore, it will hurt. Getting to the point – why didn't the murderer simply throw you into the fire? It was already large enough to burn a person…"

"His weapon worked faster," I suggested.

"Could he breathe fire like a dragon? That's what you mean?" Mom asked. Everyone automatically looked at Puck, who was the only one in our company who _could _breathe fire indeed. Even I gave him a suspicious look, because I don't know whom to trust after Mirror's betrayal.

"Oh, please don't worry. Puck was throwing rocks at the dragons," the Editor assured us. "He was about five hundred yards away from the mess tent. Although he can gain incredible speed while flying, he still wasn't able to… murder Sabrina in several seconds. I saw him near the catapult less than a minute before her death, and he was there five minutes before we discovered… er… the corpse. Even if we assume he had a motive to murder Sabrina, his alibi is obvious".

Puck mouthed the words "thank you". He was clearly in deep thoughts. We were all discussing the alibis of another powerful Everafters, when Puck jumped in excitement.

"Hey!" he cried. "Why are we thinking about betrayers, Scarlet Hand spies and freaks like that?"

"Because one of the 'freaks like that' murdered me," Sabrina snapped.

"No – I mean, everything is easy!" Puck continued. "Ugly, you told us that the pain after the Unknown's attack was paralyzing. And I suppose the pain from simple burns doesn't paralyze you _literally_. You stand still, of course, you can't move because of it… But you and your nervous system are _really_ paralyzed when you are shot with a strong bolt of electricity".

"H-how do you know?" Sabrina stammered.

"About five years ago I tried to cut an electric cable in two," Puck said. "It doesn't matter. The thing is that Sabrina _was_ shot with a bolt of electricity".

"We have nothing electrical in the fort," Henry argued.

"I get the idea," the Editor said in a ghostly voice. "Sabrina was shot with _lightning_".

Puck nodded.

"Then it must have been Mirror who killed her!" this is the horrible truth we all realized. "And he is hiding in the fort!"

**I hope I'll update soon. I've started a new fanfiction which is not related to this one, so now I have to update both of them. I'll try to do this as frequently as I can.**

**Thank you for the reviews! They are really helpful.**


	5. The opposite side

**Chapter 5. The opposite side**

Mirror's POV

I thought the hardest part was over. It was so difficult for me to murder Starfish – I'm still feeling kind of sorry for her… After all, our so-called "friendship" had lasted for eight months.

Anyway, my secret plan had almost succeeded. I was going to strike every day, murdering people until they would get scared and desert Charming. Then they'd have two choices: a) joining my army b) being killed by my hobgoblin forest patrols

And now I've found out that the Editor has a genie's lamp! He's now out of wishes, but it's easy for any other member of Charming's army to call for the genie and find me with his help. The only way for me to save myself is to steal the lamp and destroy it. I know that the genie can make me conquer the world, but then the lamp can be possessed by one of my enemies once more – and they'll ruin my kingdom.

So, I need to destroy that lamp – to burn it with lightning. That's the only way to kill the genie.

The only problem is that the lamp can't be stolen easily. As I hear from my hiding place, Charming ordered the Blue Fairy to guard it. The Blue Fairy is a thousand times as powerful as the Wicked Queen. I can't defeat her – especially in my current body.

**An hour later**

I have just came up with another plan! It's even better than the previous one. First step: I'll have to capture someone from the fort. I doubt the victim will be Sabrina Grimm again: the Editor (with the Revisers) and Puck (with the pixies) are following her everywhere. But maybe I'll kidnap some other Grimm, or a weak Everafter. I know the army will be terribly worried about a defenseless, feeble person. They'll agree to everything.

I just have to choose a victim and strike immediately.

Nobody is able to discover me. I'm hiding in some place where nobody's ever going to search for me.

...Oh, that Relda's radiculitis!.. I want to get away from this body as soon as I can.

**This chapter's very short (again) but intriguing, I hope. I just don't have much inspiration for this story today.**

**Thanks for the reviews! I'm waiting for the new ones!**


	6. Desperate times

**Thanks to my reviewers! So glad you liked chapters 4 and 5!**

**The first three chapters were kind of flat, but now I'm going to give a shock or an intriguing end or both in every chapter!**

**Chapter 6. Desperate times**

**2.15 in the morning**

Sabrina's POV

The Blue Fairy had created enough sleeping bags for the inhabitants of the fort. We all crowded in five main living cabins. Everyone was too frightened to sleep. The Blue Fairy, the Wicked Queen, Morgan le Fay, the Editor, Puck and several others were guarding us.

I closed my eyes and tried to rest. I couldn't! The day was full of events: Puck's prank with the slime, the imprisonment in the cabin, the Editor's declaration of love, Daphne's new amazing plan, the duel of the Editor and Puck, the dragons' attack, my death and revival, and the discovery of my murderer's identity. I felt exhausted, but I wasn't able to rest peacefully.

Suddenly, I've heard a terrible loud howl. Everybody turned pale, some princesses burst into hysterics. The howl was getting _louder_ and _louder _and _louder_. I got out of the sleeping bag and shouted to our guardians:

"What's the matter? What is it?"

"Mirror threw a heavy stone at Mr. Canis!" the Blue Fairy shouted back. "Mr. Canis is unharmed, but the stone shattered the jar that had held the Big Bad Wolf! Jake Grimm has the magical kazoo, he's trying to get control over the monster…"

The information started a real panic. The people were lying on the ground, trembling and crying, even the brave troops like the knights of the Round Table or the Merry Men were scared to death. The Blue Fairy, the Wicked Queen and Baba Yaga could barely prevent the Big Bad Wolf to get to the poor defenseless people. The creature managed to snatch the kazoo from Uncle Jake. We were helpless.

And just then I saw something small and fast run to the Big Bad Wolf. It roared with fear and tried to blow the attacker away with the kazoo, but the attacker was faster. The next moment, the Wolf was howling with pain. Dozens of small beasts came to the first one's assistance.

When the Blue Fairy switched on her magical azure light, I spotted the Revisers sitting and licking their teeth. The Big Bad Wolf was nowhere in sight. The Editor praised his little beasts:

"Good job, Revisers. I know you weren't hungry, but you seemed to enjoy this early breakfast."

Then he turned to Charming:

"You can forget about the Big Bad Wolf. He ate people for many centuries, and was finally eaten by beasts himself."

"I enjoyed the Revisers eating him!" Puck added genuinely. I'm so glad he's not fighting with the Editor anymore!

* * *

When the Editor and the Revisers received the words of great gratitude, we were going to go to sleep at last. I closed my eyes and was almost asleep when I heard Daphne crying:

"Wake up! All of you!"

"What's it, Daphne?" I was alarmed. "What happened?"

"Look!" Daphne pointed to an empty sleeping bag. "Red Riding Hood is missing! Mirror captured her and left a note!" she gestured to a piece of paper lying on the ground.

"Oh, no!" Mom cried. "Poor little girl, she's completely defenseless and timid!.."

Charming took Mirror's message and read it aloud:

"_Red Riding Hood __will die__. The only way for you to save her is to agree with the following points:_

_I'll retrieve the genie's lamp from you. The genie's power is too large, it must be destroyed._

_The Wicked Queen will put me in some other vessel. Relda's body has all the sickness in the world. The preferred vessels are the Grimm children, especially Basil._

_The Grimms will give me the Vorpal blade. I need it to cut the barrier to ribbons._

_Of course, all of you may be selfish. Maybe you are able to give Red's life away to save the Vorpal blade, the genie's lamp, and the lives of the Grimms. Well, you cannot trick __me__! Tomorrow at noon Red will be killed, and another person will be kidnapped. I'm even kind enough to warn you that the next victim will be Sabrina Grimm. She was already murdered – you surely don't want this to happen again, do you?_

_I remain your disrespectfully,_

_Mirror, the Master of the Scarlet Hand (currently in Relda Grimm's body)"_

"Oh, what shall we do?" Daphne whimpered. "This is a trap, and we are caught! Die or surrender – that's our choice!"

Daphne is the best optimist in the fort. When she doesn't know what to do, it's clear that everyone else has lost their hopes as well. The situation seemed desperate indeed. If we accepted the conditions, we'd soon all become enslaved. If we didn't accept them, we'd soon all be dead.

And that's when I came up with a truly crazy decision.

"Daphne!" I called desperately. "I know one last way to save our freedom and Red's life and the lives of everybody else. I'll go to Mirror right now as a messenger - myself."

"NO!" Dad snapped. "Sabrina, are you out of your mind? He'll kill you anyway!"

"I won't allow it! Henry's right!" when it came to my defense, Puck and the Editor always spoke in unison.

"You won't help us! You're just shortening your life!" Mom sobbed.

"The thing is that I doubt Mirror will kill me," I said after the arguments and the cries ended. "He's able to kill somebody in a fight or even attack a weak person from behind. But I hope he won't kill a messenger who will come to him on his own will. In fact, I've heard that it's one of the rules of the war: messengers are safe."

"It's right, actually!" the Blue Fairy exclaimed. "But why you, Sabrina? I'm more powerful and…"

"Deserve more of Mirror's hatred. You will be certainly killed: you're the strongest of his enemies! And I'm just a human with a bad nervous reaction to magic. And anyway, what's my choice? Mirror will kidnap _and _murder me tomorrow or he'll enslave all of us, and we are going to lose our freedom and normal lives."

"Well, I'll go with you!" Puck and the Editor said together.

"Thank you," I smiled. "But I'll go without protection. I'm going to be a weak human without any defense. That's why my plan will succeed. Mirror is cruel, but not cruel enough to murder me."

"And what are you planning to do, assuming that you'll be safe?" Dad asked.

"I'm not sure I can make his conditions less fierce, but I'll try to sabotage his further plans and rescue Red, of course."

Everyone tried to stop me, but I was firm. I said the last warm goodbyes, breathed in deeply and ran away from the protected cabins to the rest of the fort. It was dark and scary everywhere, but I pretended not to notice it.

Now I only needed to find Mirror's hiding place…


	7. The victory

**Thanks to Mr. and Mrs. Goodfellow for the review! I'm updating the story today. There's a new chapter!**

**Chapter 7. The victory**

Sabrina's POV

I walked in the darkness. The protected cabins were several hundred yards away, and when I turned to look back, I saw only a faint gleam of bluish light. I've started to regret my decision. There was no sign of Mirror or Red, and the fort looked really creepy in the middle of the night. I began to think that it would be better to come back and send someone mighty as a messenger.

Just the moment I was going to turn to the cabins, I heard some faint cracking. I quickly threw myself on the ground, and a bolt of lightning left a black trace inches from my head. I rolled away, narrowly avoiding another bolt.

"Mirror, stop it now! I was sent as a messenger!" I gasped, jumping on my feet as the third bolt hit the ground. Mirror stepped out of the dark shadows. The whole scene looked like one from horror movies. The most terrifying thing was that Mirror still remained in Granny's body.

"As a messenger? All right. Does the army accept the three conditions?" Mirror asked.

"Yes, everybody sees this option as the best one." I said. "The Wicked Queen, though, needs some time to prepare your transition. The vessel will be one of us, the Grimm children. We don't know which of us exactly, but we'll decide it by the noon. At noon, the transition will be made. Then we'll give you the lamp and the blade. And now, please, release Red."

Mirror seemed pleasantly surprised that we accepted the conditions this soon. He went into the shadows again and returned, leading a very scared and trembling Red outside. Red rushed to me and cried:

"_Why _did you agree to give him the lamp and the blade? He'll enslave everybody!"

"But we are going to stay alive at least," I said. "So, Mirror, we have an agreement, right?"

"Right." he suddenly threw a handful of green dust at me. "You're now under a special spell. If Charming and his followers don't give the lamp or the blade or a new body then you'll pay for that trick with your life."

"Th-th-there'll b-be n-no ne-e-ed-d for-r th-this-s," I stuttered. Then I took Red's hand and we both ran back to the cabins where everybody was waiting.

* * *

Daphne's POV

Sabrina ran away, leaving everybody in shock and confusion. Mom burst into tears when we heard three thunderclaps not far from here, Puck and the Editor attempted to run and save Sabrina, and Dad was considering joining them. The Blue Fairy and Morgan le Fay began to construct some unique magical weapons for all of them.

On this very moment I saw Sabrina and Red running to the cabins. Red's face was wet with tears, and Sabrina looked paler than Snow White.

I ran to them and hugged them both. Everyone else came to greet them and ask Sabrina if her messenger mission had succeeded.

"Oh, it… it was a real nightmare," Sabrina groaned, trembling. "But I succeeded. I fooled Mirror. I told him we accepted his conditions… He'll be here at noon to retrieve the blade and the lamp… and to be put into a new body. Daphne, now we only have to decoy Atticus to the fortress. Queen, can you put Mirror into Atticus?" she asked the Wicked Queen.

"Of course I can," she said proudly.

"Then everything is excellent!" Charming said triumphantly. "Honestly, I didn't expect Mirror to be so gullible. Tomorrow we'll kill him, and the Scarlet Hand will collapse without a leader!"

"Sabrina, all is good! Why are you so pale?" the Editor wanted to know.

"N-n-nothing," Sabrina said quickly. When Mom tried to ask her the same question, the reply was the same. Still, I was a bit worried. Sabrina can't be easily scared, and she had never gotten so pale. But she refused to discuss it even with me. She cheered and laughed along with everybody else, so I assumed everything was right.

The Editor sent his Revisers to decoy Atticus to the fort, and the Wicked Queen started preparing her magical something that would help her to put Mirror inside a new body.

* * *

**11.57 in the morning**

Puck's POV

Everything was ready, and we were only waiting for the Revisers and Atticus. All of the Grimms were naturally excited because the old lady will soon return to them. I was happy as well. Sabrina was the only one who looked frightened: her face was ghostly white. I've tried to tease her and find out the reason of that, but she didn't react to teasing and pranks.

Finally, the Revisers entered the fort. Atticus was chasing them and shaking his deadly flail. He threw it at one of the Revisers, and the little beast caught the weapon it its teeth. It munched on it, and soon the flail was gone.

"YOU ARE GOING TO PAY FOR THIS!" Atticus shouted, but then shrieked in pain. Mirror had just approached the cabins and shot Atticus with lightning.

"Oh, shut up," Mirror said. "You must thank your fortune. I'm in a good mood today, so I'll kill you later." He turned to the Wicked Queen and laughed:

"I hope you're ready to put me inside… by the way, what vessel have you chosen for me?"

"That would be me," Sabrina said. I wanted to stop her, but then remembered she was acting. Mirror, however, didn't know about it. The Wicked Queen started to take him out of the old lady's body.

While she was doing it, the Revisers started to attack Atticus. I came to their assistance, though it was a little dangerous: Atticus was still very powerful without his flail.

The Queen forced Mirror inside Atticus's body after a long fight. The Master of the Scarlet Hand didn't want to be sucked inside an Everafter. Plus, the Revisers managed to bite Atticus's hands, so that Mirror wouldn't be able to shoot his favorite lightning.

Atticus opened his mouth to shout some spell or insult, and the Queen tossed Mirror inside it. This very second, the troops launched an avalanche of spells and arrows at Mirror's new body, so in no time it was turned into a stone, then into a bald fox, then into a thistle. Charming picked the thistle and cut it into a million or so tiny pieces. It was hilarious! Everybody shouted and cheered triumphantly, the old lady was back, and the Scarlet Hand lost its leader.

I turned to Sabri… Grimm to congratulate her and stood still, shocked. She wasn't moving or talking or even breathing! She wasn't wounded at all, but her eyes were glassy and she was obviously unable to live.

I called for everyone's attention. We all rushed to Sabrina, and the Editor and me took her hands. And the solution came. Sabrina was turned into a marble statue.

"It's all my fault!" Red sobbed. "Mirror threw some magical dust at her… and told her that she'd die… if we managed to fool him!.."

The people stood in silence. I was crying again: Sabrina was now under some terrible spell! Poor girl, she was murdered just the day before and then…

The old lady was nearly in hysterics:

"I feel like it was me who spellbound her! After all, Mirror used my body to do it!.."

"Wait a minute, Mom!" Jake said. "Check your coat's pockets. I may recognize this dust and find the remedy for it."

The old lady did as she was told and found some green dust in her left pocket and some black dust in the right one. Red pointed to the green substance.

"That's it!"

"Oh, thank goodness!" Jake sighed.

"You're able to undo the spell?" everyone cried.

"Yes! This green dust puts a person under a temporary spell anyway. I think Mirror confused it for the black one, it was dark in the fort back then. The black dust turns you into a marble statue forever and there's no antidote for it. And the green dust's spell lasts three days… and I have a remedy somewhere here," Jake started to dig in his own pockets.

After ten minutes or so, he found something like a little gas-cylinder and sprayed Sabrina with a sparkling purple gas. Sabrina opened her eyes and smiled:

"Uncle Jake, oh thank you so much! I knew bad things would happen to me, but I had a faint hope about a remedy for the spell!"

She hugged Jake and then the old lady and then the rest of her family, crying from happiness. I found myself crying too, so I flew to Sabrina and kissed her. She didn't punch me that time!

Charming gave a large victory feast with the help of the most powerful witches. The next day, the troops marched to inform the scarlethanders about the death of their Master. Most of the members of the freaky group surrendered immediately, but some stubborn ones tried to fight against our army. I was allowed to punch the Queen of Hearts in the face! She was the most stubborn of them all, despite her own bad injuries.

The Scarlet Hand was put into Ferryport Landing Prison. Baba Yaga constructed a barrier around it.

In the evening, we had a Remembrance Ceremony. Charming and the Grimms spoke of humans and Everafters who perished in this war. Briar Rose, the gingerbread witch, Will Scarlet (one of the Merry Men), Tom Baxter (Cinderella's human husband) and many others. We put bouquets of flowers onto their graves and lit candles near them. These people gave up their lives for the victory…

On the second day since defeating the Hand, the Blue Fairy, the Wicked Queen and Morgan le Fay started to rebuild Ferryport Landing. Charming announced that these witches would form a new "Three".

Ferryport Landing looks great after being rebuilt! Moreover, the Three made a few improvements to the Grimm house. It's now much larger.

The Hall of Wonders was filled with magical items again. The Editor wanted to become its new guardian, and everyone gave him the permission for it. The door to the room with the Book of Everafter is now equipped with a secret magical lock. Only Grimm and Marshmallow know about it, but of course they wouldn't tell _me_!

We defeated the Scarlet Hand and I now tease Grimm about the two of us having our happily ever after. I hope she won't marry the Editor when she grows up!

* * *

**If this wasn't interesting enough, tell me about it in your reviews. I'll replace this chapter with a better one.**

**Another chapter, the final one, will be romantic.**


	8. Twelve years later

**Chapter 8. Twelve years later**

Twelve years later. Puck's POV

Well, now I look like I'm in my mid-twenties, and Sabrina… Grimm's twenty-four. She has become more beautiful… I misspoke, I mean… er… more ugly. We're both done with wars and battles, schools and colleges, and now I have plenty of free time to think of creepy pranks for her.

Something _is_ happening to me. I invent creepy pranks – lots of creepy pranks, but I rarely play them on Sabrina. I also call her Sabrina, instead of "Grimm", every time. She's gotten used to me calling her first name.

Really, I think I love Sabrina at last. I can't imagine living without her. And I feel _terrible _when guys ask her for a date. Luckily, she rejects all of them.

I don't tell her anything about my feelings to her. In fact, I haven't mentioned them since she was revived for the second time on the last day of the Scarlet Hand war. I'm afraid Sabrina doesn't love anybody. I'm anxious to know the truth about it – so is the Editor, certainly. As I know, he hasn't proposed to Sabrina yet, but he still obviously loves her. Sometimes I really want to break the promise about "no duels".

* * *

Daphne's POV

The life is absolutely wonderful! There are no wars – just some little peculiar crimes and pranks to investigate. I'm finishing college with excellent marks. Basil is now a teenager, and he takes correspondence History lessons from Mrs. Charming (the former Snow White); he wants to learn the history of _all_ Everafters and humans.

Sabrina and Puck are almost the same. They only aged, but their character haven't changed. BUT Puck is pulling less pranks and shouting less insults at Sabrina and he calls her first name! And Sabrina is a bit softer with him. Ohhh, I can't wait for their wedding! Sabrina has lots of admirers, but she doesn't pay much attention to them. The only man besides Puck whom she might possibly love is the Editor. And he's – duh! – a bit too old.

My sister is kind of my role model once more! I frequently roll my eyes and _duh_ anything I don't like. I'm not trying to be Sabrina's copy, but I pick up some of her habits!..

* * *

Sabrina's POV

Life is awfully boring! Sometimes I even want to go back to the past, to the battles with the Scarlet Hand and the solving of magical crimes. Or at least to my college days, with all the lectures and degree works.

Now the Scarlet Hand is defeated, and F_air_yport is F_err_yport again. A dull gray town, nothing more.

Even our house, the most bizarre and crazy house ever, seems boring to me. Puck is too polite and sweet with me – ugh, I hate this softness! He pulls a prank once a month! Daphne and Basil live their own lives, they don't want me as a protector and guardian. Granny and Mr. Canis are both so old they can hardly walk and talk. Dad is happy with a life almost free of Everafters. Mom thinks so as well, she's tired of wars and crimes. Uncle Jake is reserved and sad after Briar's death. The Editor, now the new guardian of the Hall of Wonders, is melancholic as usual.

The only cheerful and troublemaking inhabitants of our house are the family dogs. Elvis is long gone, sadly… But there are his children left! After the war, we bought a female Great Dane named Roarie (silly name!), and she and Elvis had two puppies. Michael and Sandra are very lively and mischievous, and they cheer me up a lot.

The worst thing now is that Mom annoys me with embarrassing questions, like "So, have you chosen your future fiancé?" or "Why in the world did you reject when Anthony Wayles asked you for a date?" Today she asked me again:

"Sabrina, many guys have crushes on you. Do you think…"

"No, Mom, please!" I cried. "I don't love anyone… from outside our house. Anthony Wayles, Roy Quont, Jim Freng – these mean nothing to me!"

"_From outside the house_?" Mom smiled. "Well, all right. In fact, I think Puck and the Editor are also in love with you."

I'm glad it was a private conversation, because I blushed and lowered my eyes.

"They are both _very_ nice, Puck is aging for you" Mom said. "Think of it, Sabrina. I can easily see they are anxiously waiting for your decision."

In the evening, I overheard Mom discussing the same topic with Dad. Dad wasn't all happy about me getting married to an Everafter, but he agreed Puck and the Editor were both in love with me. I was embarrassed and confused, again. Most of the romantic novels tell you that the choice of the true love is easy. In my case it wasn't. Not. At. All.

**I thought it would become the final chapter… SORRY! It isn't! But the story will be finished with Chapter Nine and then possibly an epilogue. I'll try to update soon!**

**Thanks for the reviews!**


	9. Sabrina's decision

**There's the last chapter. Maybe there won't be any epilogue – I still don't know. Thanks to all reviewers! The reviews are encouraging me to update fast.**

_**ATTENTION! SPOILER WARNING: If you like Puckabrina, this chapter certainly WON'T be your favorite! Well, I'm ready for the reviews.**_

**Chapter 9. Sabrina's decision**

**One day in the morning…**

Sabrina's POV

Today is the day of little Basil's detective training. He's going to go to some parallel universe from the Hall of Wonders and track down different creatures: from the family dogs to retarded goblins. I'm Basil's personal teacher of this particular subject.

"So, where are we going today?" he asked me after having breakfast. "The Snow Queen's Homeland? Andromeda Galaxy? Terra Australis Incognita? And whom am I going to track down?"

I smiled, remembering my own tracking lessons, and said:

"We'll perhaps visit that Snark's island. You remember, the one from Lewis Carroll's 'The Hunting of the Snark'".

"Great!" Basil exclaimed. "Am I going to track a Snark down?"

I nodded. Basil was ecstatic, he loved Carroll's books, especially "The Hunting of the Snark". He hurried to put on a leather hooded coat and high boots, and we both walked upstairs to the Hall of Wonders. I hadn't gotten used to the Editor as the new guardian of it! He's very quiet and shy, there's no lightning or shouting when I come inside the room, just a pleasant hello. That day was no different.

"Hello, Sabrina. Hi, Basil," the Editor greeted us as we came. "Detective training again, I suppose?"

"Yes, indeed," I handed him the keys. "Today we are going to the Island of Snarks."

The Editor led us to a thick granite door with a plaque "THE ISLAND OF SNARKS". He opened it, and we entered this universe. Oh, really, if it wasn't Granny who chose it for Basil's lessons, I'd stay away from it. There were dark creepy mountains and dark creepy woods, with some ghostly howls and squeaks coming from them.

"Ugh," I shuddered. "Well, Basil… just find the trace of a Snark, and we'll go home. Beware Bandersnatches, Jubjubs and most of all – Boojums." I remembered all bad characters from "The Hunting of the Snark".

"I know all of them!" my brother snapped. "I'll be careful!"

"Shout for help if anything goes wrong," I said as he rushed into the dark wood. Basil enjoys dangerous adventures like this one. But, oh, I'm always terribly worried about my little brother. Is he this little, by the way? He's thirteen.

I was sitting on a stump and thinking about it. The Editor stood nearby, examining the woods around us.

"Sabrina, I have something to say to you," he said suddenly.

I was embarrassed, it was easy to guess what he was going to tell me.

"You know that I've loved you for all these twelve years, dear. I… I chose to become the Hall's guardian only… only to be able to meet you every day." he paused, blushing. "Back in that fortress, twelve years ago, you promised me… you'd give me your answer when you'd grow up…"

I clearly remembered that day.

*Flashback Starts*

…_I answered:_

_"Editor, I'm really, really very honored and pleased, but you must understand me. I'm only twelve years old, and I don't know my own feelings very well. All that I can say now is that you're an actually nice person and we have similar characters indeed, so you can be sure you're one of my good friends. In… er… three or four years I'll certainly tell you whether I love you or not"._

_He smiled, took my hand and kissed it._

_"I understand, dear. Thank you for your friendship at least"…_

*Flashback Ends*

But I was still as confused as I used to be twelve years earlier. The Editor had become a part of our family, but could I love him as a fiancé? I sighed deeply and pleaded for a little more time to make my decision. The Editor smiled and agreed.

"As an Everafter, I have a whole eternity for waiting," he added softly.

We remained silent until I heard a loud triumphant hooray and Basil ran out of the woods, exhausted but happy. He stood for a while, catching his breath, and then grinned and told us:

"Sabrina, Editor, I found the Snark's trace and followed it! And I saw a real Snark in its own nest! Can you imagine it? There are now several photos of it on my iPhone! I'll show you them!"

Basil insisted on us admiring the Snark's photos, so I had to manage a smile and say "Really-great-cool-exciting", but in fact I was still thinking about the Editor's proposal and nothing could distract me.

**In the afternoon**

Daphne and Basil were training to use a magic wand in the front yard, Mom and Dad were jotting down notes in their journals, and Granny was resting. I was the only one left to feed our dogs. Michael and Sandra hungrily eyed the sausage I was eating, but I noticed it and snapped:

"No way! There's a nice huge beef steak for you."

I went to the cupboard to get the beef steak and feed the dogs. They were patiently waiting, but suddenly I heard them whining and shrieking at something. I turned around, screamed and dropped the beef steak. There were four enormous, fat _blue _toads sitting on the kitchen floor and catching flies with their long tongues. They were really disgusting. The poor dogs deserted the kitchen.

I was sure about who the owner of these toads was.

"PUCK!" I shouted.

Puck appeared, smirking, snatched one of the toads and attempted to throw it at me. Luckily, Mom came and stopped him.

"Seems like you'll never learn to behave," she shouted as Puck was flying to his room.

When everything was quiet again, I thought:

"And if I – ugh! – married Puck, I'd have to suffer from these pranks all day long. Ohh! I'm tired of them already," I shuddered. "For twelve years, I've been a victim of the dirtiest tricks ever played on any person. If I become Puck's wife…" I didn't even dare to imagine the results.

I remembered the Editor once more. What about him? He's not playing stupid pranks every day and he doesn't command a mob of freaky chimpanzees. His character is similar to mine, he's kind, he loves me – and I love him as a member of our family. Sure, he looks like he's sixty years old but it really doesn't matter since he's an Everafter.

I went upstairs and entered the Hall of Wonders. After several minutes of searching it, I found the Editor in the "Secret Garden" room, he was busy watering the magical flowers.

"Editor," I smiled as I came to him, "I've made my choice. I'll be happy with you ever after."

"I love you, Sabrina," he whispered and kissed me…

…We were married two weeks later.

Puck's POV

Oh no! She married him!

* * *

**All right. Here's a small epilogue for those who like Puckabrina:**

**Twenty-two years later. A fragment of Francine Grimm's journal**

I have a journal! I have a real journal! I'm old enough to write in my personal journal like a true Grimm! Daddy told me to describe the events of the past eleven years first.

The events were truly tragic. The Scarlet Hand had somehow escaped the magical prison, and eleven years ago they elected a new powerful Master; it was Oz. None of us saw it coming, so when the Hand stroke, nobody was ready. During the first weeks of the Second Scarlet Hand War, many people were killed without a reason. My Aunt Sabrina lost her husband, the Editor. (Gasp) Daddy and Granny Veronica were badly injured, and Aunt Daphne was hit in the head and lost all of her memory…

But Mayor Charming and the Three built another army earlier than the scarlethanders predicted. We fought them and won the war once more, but we didn't imprison them this time. Not at all; the Blue Fairy turned every single member of the Hand into a marble statue using some black magical dust. Great-uncle Jake told me that the black dust put a spell on them forever.

The war ended. The life is peaceful again. Aunt Daphne is slowly regaining her memory. Daddy and Granny were quickly healed by magical medicines. Aunt Sabrina has been in deep mourning for her husband for all these ten years after the war. She's not angry or stubborn anymore, she's sad and quiet, and she likes to be alone. Puck, the fairy who lives with us, is very protective over her and always understands her. Since the Second SH War, he has never played silly pranks or dirty tricks on her. It's obvious for everyone that he still loves my poor Aunt Sabrina…

Mom, Great-uncle Jake, Great-granny Relda, Grandpa Henry, Uncle Gabriel (Cinderella's grandson and Aunt Daphne's husband), and Mr. Canis are all alive and well. Our dynasty of family dogs lives on, we have fifteen little Great Dane puppies with us right now, and their mother Sandra is also still alive!

That's all I can write for the first time.

Signed: Francine Grimm, daughter of Basil Grimm.

**That's all! I'm waiting for your opinions!**


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